Ex-cop nabbed with blue lights, sirens

Cape Town - 090127 - At Khayelitsha's Nonceba Hall on National Police Day there was a meeting to help organize how local organizations could assist the police in dealing with community issues. Photo by Skyler Reid.

Johannesburg - Police will conduct further investigations after they nabbed an ex-police officer and others who were found in possession of police blue lights, police sirens and handcuffs in Mayfair, Joburg.

It was not clear on Friday morning if the arrest could be linked to blue-light crimes. Provincial police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza said further investigations would continue.

A gang using police blue lights has been terrorising Gauteng residents for several years.

In other incidents, the police impersonators – in full police uniforms – pulled over expensive cars. The gang members handcuffed the victims and “arrested” them, then robbed them.

Kweza said the 53-year-old former colonel, who worked at the commercial branch, resigned from the police in 2008.

She said the suspects were also found in possession of cash, but wouldn’t reveal why this was significant.

Kweza said police officers were conducting sector patrols in Mayfair on Thursday when they were stopped by members of the community and were alerted to a suspicious car parked on the side of the road for several hours.

“There were three occupants inside the vehicle. The members called for back-up and one of the occupants of the car – a Ford Fiesta – left before the police back-up could arrive. As soon as back-up arrived, members approached the occupants of the car. Police searched the car and recovered eight stolen cellular phones.”

She said the two suspects were taken to the police station. The third, the former police officer, was arrested later after police found cash, police blue lights, a police siren, handcuffs and a police identity card hidden in his car.

The car was then confiscated.

Kweza said the suspects would be charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, impersonating a police officer, and the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.